There’s a lot of talk around Credit Reports and whether the addresses contained within them can have an influence on your Credit Score. Perhaps having too many previous addresses is a bad thing or maybe attempting to have old ones removed is a good idea? Don’t fret because we’ll outline exactly what to expect when it comes to addresses.

How are addresses added to my Credit Report?

It may surprise you to learn that the Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) don’t keep an official list of addresses where you have lived – in fact no such register is compiled in the UK. CRAs are only made aware of an address change when you change the address on one of your existing accounts or where you supply an address as a past address when making an application for credit.

Occasionally a delivery address may also be recorded, for instance where a mobile handset is delivered to an address other than your own. These addresses are recorded on the Credit Report as linked addresses.

Do my linked addresses affect me?

Linked addresses are important, as they mean your Credit Report follows you when you move property – without them you would have to build a new Credit History each time you moved address and this would make it difficult to obtain credit for much needed purchases after you move.

They also help ensure that potential lenders view your full Credit History – the more information a lender can find, the more certain the lender can be that the information returned on your Credit Report is representative of how you have used credit in the past and in turn, how you’re likely to manage it in the future. This certainty means that lenders are better able to rely on the information when deciding applications and are therefore more likely to grant the application in question.

An address link itself cannot affect your Credit Score but any credit information held in your details at the address may be returned on your Credit Report and this would be taken into account in any application you make.

How long do linked addresses remain?

Linked address records remain on the Credit Report indefinitely. So long as there is no negative repayment history in your name at the linked address, they will have no impact on your Credit Score, and if there is a wealth of positive credit history at the linked address then this will boost your overall Credit Score. For this reason, when checking your Credit Report you should not be overly concerned where there are old linked addresses which you are aware of. These entries generally can’t be removed if they have been correctly attributed to you.

The only time you need be concerned is where there is an address link which you don’t recognise. Often where an incorrect linked address has been recorded, this will be the result of an error. For instance, it may be as a result of a typing error or the address may be very similar to a genuine linked address. In some instances they can also be indicative of fraud. For this reason we would recommend checking linked addresses and, where there are addresses you don’t recognise, contacting the company that recorded it to find out any further details they may have.

All of this information will be present on our Multi Agency Credit Reports, enabling you to check the information for yourself alongside the accounts/searches section of the Credit Report to ensure you recognise all the entries.

Should you find an incorrect linked address recorded on your Credit Report then the entries are fairly easily removed. Just contact the company that recorded the incorrect address link, or where this isn’t provided just contact us directly and we can help you to have the entry removed.

How do I check my Credit Report?

If you’re looking to find out which addresses have been linked to you, or are just curious about your Credit Rating, your best option to is check your Credit Report, so you can see it all for yourself.

You can try us free for 30 days, then just £14.99 per month which you can cancel easily at any time. Our Multi Agency Credit Report is the most detailed in the UK, uniquely allowing you complete access to the full information from the three main Credit Reference Agencies together in the same format - ensuring that nothing is missed.

Updated 04/12/2019 by Sam Griffin